Artist Feature: LYZ Design

Getting to know what goes into a body of work -- the artist's personality, inspiration and motivation -- is what really completes it. At least for me, seeing a painting on a wall is great, but getting an idea of why it was made, how long it took, and what techniques were used really complete the picture. That's one reason why I wanted to share an artist on this blog -- a feature! I myself am inspired by her dedication and output, so I want to share LYZ Design: the art of Elizabeth Grube.

(You'll have to pardon my love for close-ups of thick paint. Consider this fair warning!)

Elizabeth grew up in the same northeast Wisconsin town as I did, so we went to school together, but it wasn't until years later, after college, that I started following her artistic pursuits (at a distance, since she was in Chicago for a couple of years and currently resides in Los Angeles). She grew up in a creative household; her mother, an artist, always encouraged creativity. Elizabeth pursued interior design, attending Mississippi State University and currently works as an interior designer at a global architecture firm. But it was only about five years ago that she delved into painting, and her passion for painting on canvas continues to grow.

Her inspiration is derived from the energy and architecture of cities as well as eclectic cultural influences experienced at home and abroad. She strives to color the energy of her urban surroundings into her work, using primary hues and thick, impasto movements of heavy bodied acrylic paint. She uses palette knives and pieces of cardboard to distribute the paint, and describes the process as "messy," the intention being to create a sort of organized chaos of shape, color, and texture.

What really draws me to Elizabeth's work is that she seems to take a no-holds-barred approach to painting. It is one thing to dab paint on a canvas with a brush, and another altogether to use pieces of cardboard to apply it in thick swaths. She doesn't hesitate to use stark contrasts and blaring colors in her work, the straight-from-the-tube sort of ideology that adds a simplicity of design, if not simplicity of composition. The paint strokes, or smudges, smears and dabs, are powerful and uninhibited, adding to the energy of the work.

Recently she has begun to produce small "sketch paintings," which elaborate on her starting sketches with just a little bit of paint. I'm partial to London, so I had to make sure I'd share the London Eye!

LYZ Design has just opened a brand new Etsy shop, where a selection of her paintings are now for sale, and she will be constantly updating and adding to her inventory as she continues to produce work. She has participated in numerous gallery shows and events including the 2012 Downtown Los Angeles Artwalk, the 2012 Art Incognito Fundraiser to benefit Free Arts Minnesota, and the 2012 Atwater Artwalk in Glendale, CA. She was a Showcase Winner on the ArtSlant website in August of 2012 and was selected as the 2012 Founder's Favorite, Visual Arts category at the 4th Annual RAWards (RAW: natural born artists).

Titles and information about her currently available work can be found at the links below.

I urge you to check out her fantastic website: LYZdesign.com

Etsy shop  /  Facebook  /  Twitter @lyzdesign  /  Inquiries: elizabeth.grube@gmail.com

All photographs courtesy of LYZ Design.

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Days to Edinburgh move-in: 86